MADE Hoops East Warmup: Ari's Saturday 17U Guard Standouts

MADE Hoops continued its Northeast spring event season with its East Warmup event kicking off Friday night at Spooky Nook in PA, featuring hundreds of teams from the MADE circuits, the EYBL, and beyond. See below for a handful of guards who caught the eye on Saturday with their play in the 17U division.    After a breakout season for state champion Bergen Catholic, Brown has taken some time getting acclimated to his first run at circuit-level AAU but looked like his fully dynamic self by day's end on Saturday. A natural scorer who mostly featured off-ball in the winter, Brown split time between both backcourt spots while showcasing his deep arsenal from all three levels of the floor. As he continues growing and filling out his frame, he's become much more potent getting downhill in the halfcourt, with the game starting to slow down for him to better access his playmaking reads for others. Still in the early stages of refining his floor game at high levels, the upside appears significant as coaches get their first extensive looks at Brown this summer.     While Durant, missing a few key pieces, took a tight loss to New Heights, Brown went down swinging while showcasing his potent on-ball arsenal. He's evidently hit the ground running since moving over to Durant for the spring, ruthlessly using his quickness and airtight handle to keep defenders off balance and navigate to spots with ease. Brown is always a dynamic paint-touch threat, but when he's at his best like he was on Saturday, is also making mature reads to create shots for teammates as well as knocking down timely shots himself from the perimeter. He should solidify himself in the eyes of high-major coaches if he carries this level of play onto the EYBL circuit throughout the summer.     Making a last-minute switch to the City Rocks and playing two years up on the 17U level, White showed no signs of discomfort coming off a winter in which he broke NJ's state freshman scoring record. While he was forced into a heavy scoring load in high school, the young floor general looked comfortable running the show with a collection of high-level talent around him. In a blowout season-opening win, he got to his spots on command while showcasing an advanced degree of polish to his reads. He also set the tone as the head of the snake defensively with bothersome ball pressure, a must at the highest levels for a guard of his stature. While he doesn't stand out from a physical standpoint, White continues to track as one of the best guards in the country within his class.     After previously biding his time at national powerhouse Paul VI, Byrd made the move over to Tuscarora and enjoyed a breakout junior season in the VHSL. He's clearly carried that level of play into AAU as he showcased his electric two-way ability for his TTO National squad. With dripping length and fluid movement skills, Byrd packs a punch with a creative on-ball skillset to keep defenders guessing as he works to his spots. He shows an ability to attack as an initiator or sliding off-ball, with the standstill 3-point stroke necessary to keep defenses honest. While he has work to do in the weight room, Byrd does use his length and quickness to speed up opposing guards on the defensive end. He could use some further refinement in terms of his efficiency, but the energy and natural scoring ability that Byrd possesses should garner D1 eyes this summer.     Though it came in two losses to high-powered sneaker teams, Fuentes put on a show in the backcourt while displaying a dynamic overall skillset. With his younger brother (a nationally-ranked prospect in 2027) down with injury, Fuentes took on the added load admirably. He impressed with his pristine skill level while working his way to spots with or without a ball screen, showcasing tight footwork into a number of pullups with a seemingly increasing degree of difficult. While he doesn't look the part, he's deceptively strong and plays with great balance with some functional lift around the rim as a finisher. Coming up from Florida, Fuentes left little doubt among the Northeast crowd as to why numerous D1s have already made him a priority.     Bracey caught the eye on Friday night and intrigued again with his play on Saturday, continuing to play his way onto scholarship radars early on this spring. A smooth wing guard with standout length and positional size, he certainly looks the part of a scholarship-level guard and shows signs of developing the requisite skillset to match. He intrigues at his size with comfortable ball skills on the attack, including initiating the offense for stretches. The Waterbury native also showcases a smooth stroke to the arc with flashes of comfort in the pullup game. With high-level pedigree (Bracey's dad played at SMU), place the budding guard squarely on breakout watch heading into the summer.     Melo put on a clinic during a blowout opening win on Saturday, and Parlow was a consistent factor with his smooth and efficient two-way play. A long and lanky off-ball guard, he showcased his textbook mechanics as a jump shooter while flowing to spots with ease. Parlow also impressed utilizing his length to force turnovers on defense and showed an added level of pop as an opportunistic finisher at the rim. The Louisiana native showed intriguing flashes in his first season at Mt. Zion, but will surely rise up recruiting boards with more consistent full outings like this one in the coming months.

MADE Hoops continued its Northeast spring event season with its East Warmup event kicking off Friday night at Spooky Nook in PA, featuring hundreds of teams from the MADE circuits, the EYBL, and beyond. See below for a handful of guards who caught the eye on Saturday with their play in the 17U division.